The Games We Play
by fazzems
Summary: A game of hide and seek becomes heated as Lucy is confronted with an opportunity to face her own fears. NALU


_Just got a wave of random inspiration after some of the manga's recent nalu chapters! Maybe a bit cliche, but I can't help it lol. Please review and let me know what you think :) _

_(you can send me any prompts you have too, JUST saying hehe)_

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**Hide and Seek**

"Okay, I'm counting down from two minutes!" declared Erza Scarlet, her eyes shining with determination.

This was definitely one of Fairy Tail's easier missions, by far. The black haired boy whose father had hired Fairy Tail's finest to entertain his son, quickly darted out of sight between the pillared doorway. The boy's name was Frank, and whilst his father was out of the house, or rather, mansion for the day, Erza, Gray, Natsu, Levy, and Lucy had been enlisted to entertain him.

The kid was kind of a brat, but Lucy had to admit at least the job wasn`t all boring. She hadn`t played some of these games for years!

"This feels a lot like glorified baby-sitting," Levy mumbled to Lucy as she scoured the room with calculating eyes. A few feet away, Gray and Natsu were arguing about something, foreheads practically touching as the two went toe-to-toe. Lucy elected to ignore the two and gave her friend a knowing look.

"The whole house is fair game!" Frank's voice shouted out from already halfway across the house.

"This is gonna be a long game…" Lucy stated blandly.

Levy perked up and turned to her friend, "Come on, Lucy, let's try and do our best anyway! We're from Fairy Tail, and no matter the job we kind of have to rock it, ne?"

Lucy smiled at her blue-haired friend and nodded. Her blue-haired friend did have a good point after all, and what better way to waste her time than getting paid to play child's games?

"You're right, so I'm definitely going to win," she laughed as Levy gave her a competitive look, then dashed off.

"Okay, okay, where to hide," Lucy muttered to herself as she exited the large foyer, the walls adorned in brilliant white marble. She maneuvered down a long-stretched hallway, until she eventually found herself in a room enveloped in darkness. She squinted her eyes and noted the high ceilings, but could distinguish nothing more. Kind of a perfect place to hide, she decided with a nod.

As she walked down an aisle, she noticed that there were rows upon rows of seats, and as her eyes began to adjust she realized she was in a very large theater with a raised-stage sitting at the back centre of the room. Red curtains were drawn back, and Lucy spotted a ladder leading up off-stage and into the rafters tagged with dull spot-lights. With no more than a minute left to hide, Lucy quickly dashed over to the stage, and hoisted herself up until she crawled into a part of the wall.

If it wasn't dark before, it definitely was now. She squinted again and felt around blindly, feeling rungs of another ladder. She clambered up until she realized she was now above the stage looking down upon it, suspended on black metal beams where the lighting for shows were positioned. She smirked at her amazing but snug hiding space, as anyone looking up at her would not be able to see her.

"And now we wait," she muttered, and leaned her back against what she thought was another bar.

That is, until it grunted as she backed into its chest.

She craned her neck and came face to face with a dark figure with spiky hair. After a few seconds, the person smiled hugely and raised a finger to their lips. Lucy shook her head incredulously.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" Lucy whisper-yelled, "This is my hiding spot, now get out!"

"Ready or not," Erza's voice boomed from somewhere else in the house, "HERE I COME!"

"Looks like we're sharing," Natsu said with a grin.

She settled back against him with a frown.

"Well, believe it or not, I actually want to win this," Lucy crossed her arms. She gave him a light shove with the back of her shoulder to which he did not even budge, "Now go!"

"I got here first," she could practically hear his pout, "Besides, I want to win too. Gray was bragging about how good he is at this game, so I need to win to shut that ice-freak's mouth."

After a moment, Lucy sighed as she awkwardly tried to maintain balance without touching him, "Okay, fine, but if you're going to make me lose, I'm pushing you off of here! Just… keep quiet."

He shot her a triumphant smile and then, to her surprise, silence settled between them. However, the silence kind of unnerved her, since it was unlike the pink-haired dragon slayer to not be talking if he was not too busy eating or blasting his enemies to bits. Not to mention, in their close proximity she could feel his heat radiating off of his body, which made her incredibly warm especially in her cheeks for some reason.

She contemplated the weird feeling her heart was making when she accidentally wobbled a bit on the bar they were balanced on and her feet clanged against the metal beneath them.

"Shh," Natsu shushed from behind her, his eyebrows pointed down in concentration.

"I'm trying," she grumbled irritably.

Then suddenly, the two heard the doors open and Erza stalked in, red hair billowing behind her like a cape as she strode down the aisles. Lucy could hear her occasionally stop, crouching to check behind seats for straggling hiders.

Lucy's foot lightly clanged the metal bar again, and Natsu promptly grabbed her upper arms and pulled her into his hard chest. She froze against him. She was now steady, but her heart rate didn't feel the same, especially when his warm lips brushed against her neck as he let air hiss through his teeth in a soft shush.

_Shit_, that felt good.

She felt her cheeks flush and her hair stood on end. Oh Mavis, what was happening to her? Her heart continued to pound, up until Erza finished her check upon the theatre, passing the stage entirely and heading towards the exit. She briefly considered throwing Natsu over the beams, lest he make her lose her cool and balance with his proximity; she kept these thoughts to herself though, as his hands shifted to her waist to steady her further.

As Erza placed her hand on the door, Natsu let out a warm breath of relief behind her. He began to lessen his grip on her when she suddenly felt something bubble up from her chest.

"_Hic_."

The hiccup resounded throughout the whole theatre and Natsu tightened his grip on her waist, Lucy's eyes widening in fear. Oops.

"Gotchya," Erza declared confidently, doubling back towards the centre of the room trying to pinpoint the noise. She looked like an angel of death to Lucy, eyes scanning the room in search of her prey. Lucy knew it was just a game, but the glint in Erza's eyes made her feel like this was truly a matter of surviving and escaping the mighty Titania's wrath.

"_Hic_."

Natsu frantically spun Lucy around in his grip until she faced him, mouthing her name with wide eyes. Lucy only watched the ground, as Erza took the steps onto the stage and was standing directly beneath them now. It was only a matter of time before Erza looked up and caught the guilty-looking celestial mage and her partner red-handed in their hiding spots. Damn, and she had really wanted to win too.

This was it. She felt the hiccup in her chest again, and struggled to repress it. How ironic it was that she hadn't wanted Natsu to hide with her lest he give away her hiding spot, when she meanwhile was going to single-handedly lose it for the both of them.

How had her mother said to get rid of hiccups again? She vaguely remembered that she was supposed to have someone scare or shock her, but that didn't really seem possible in this moment as she was horridly tense, more anxious than scared.

She felt bad, but honestly not that mad since she couldn't handle this close proximity anyway. It was making her react weird… and this moment was getting way too intense for her liking.

"Is that Lucy?" Erza said from directly below them, thankfully not glancing up.

Lucy gulped and gave Natsu a look to which he shook his head.

"Scare me," she mouthed silently, to which Natsu gave her incredulous eyes.

"Scare yourself!" he countered in a low whisper, apparently audible enough for Erza to detect as her eyes whipped up to the ceiling. She squinted directly at them, not quite detecting them in the low light.

"Lucy? You up there?" Erza said with uncertainty.

Scare herself, huh? The only thing in this moment that truly scared her was perhaps her feelings for her partner sitting right in front of her, looking at her with desperate eyes urging her to shut up.

As her lips parted again to release the _hic_, Lucy opted to take his advice and inhaled a sharp breath before crashing her lips onto his, feeling the hiccup die in her throat and Natsu's entire body tense. His lips were chapped, but incredibly warm as she leaned into him, her arms rising to settle on his shoulders hesitantly.

'_Okay, time to pull back now,_' she reminded herself, but found herself struggling as Natsu slowly started to respond.

She leant back slightly and was shocked when Natsu followed her motion, connecting their lips again as they fell back against the beams together, his hands suddenly on the small of her back, persistent and warm. She sighed into his mouth, molten lava surging through her veins with her hiccups and the competition long forgotten.

"Luce?" he mouthed breathlessly, his eyes hooded as they bore into hers. His eyes were full of questions, but they remained distractedly fixed on her lips as he began to lean in again.

That's when she pushed him.

Now, she wasn't too proud of this… but better him than her, right?

A brief sound of alarm escaped his lips as he flew off the beam and landed with a resounding _thwack_ on his back on the floor, directly in front of Erza. The air gushed out of his lungs as he keeled over in pain. Lucy smiled apologetically, her hand resting on her fluttering heart as she tried to settle her breath.

"I knew I heard _someone_," Erza smiled triumphantly with a chuckle, and Lucy decided not to watch as she straightened up and pressed her fingers against her lips, shocked even at her own actions, "Not a bad hiding spot, Natsu, I do admit. You must definitely work on your balance for next time however."

Lucy repressed a smile as a silent Natsu was dragged away by Erza, his expression priceless as he pointed an accusatory finger up at the ceiling while struggling to find breath to speak. When she heard the doors finally close behind the duo, she allowed herself to giggle at the absurdity of the situation.

Twenty minutes passed and Lucy was eventually declared the winner after Gray was found snoozing in the kitchen's walk-in freezer. They all gathered in the foyer and Lucy fervently attempted to avoid Natsu's eyes, feeling incredibly self-conscious as she felt his gaze burning through the back of her head. Just what was he thinking?

"Anyone up for a round two?" Frank asked the group, "I wanna win this time!"

Lucy's question was answered when Natsu's hand suddenly shot and grabbed Lucy's wrist. She looked up at him in surprise as his eyelids lowered mischievously.

"I want to hide with Lucy!"


End file.
